


Take A Break

by Aethernight



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: ADHD Mikey, B Team for life, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Comfort, Cuddling, Donnie gets his nap, Rise of the tmnt references!, TCEST DNI, The best bros of 2012, also petition to change B Team to Halloween Bros for the colors, this is not a ship fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25316032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aethernight/pseuds/Aethernight
Summary: My bro, Donnie, is STILL up working! I guess being a ninja isn’t enough to get the guy to nap. That means it’s up to me, Michelangelo, to help a turtle out! Dr. Helping-stein is on the case! Maybe I should get a new name, Dr. Feelings sounds pretty good!
Relationships: Mikey & Donnie (TMNT)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	Take A Break

**Author's Note:**

> Mikey and Donnie have been my favorites since 2012 came out and they always made me smile when I was little. I love them even more thanks to Rise, but the OG B Team needs a little extra love.
> 
> Thanks Mo on discord for helping inspire me with this story!

The lair was quiet.

Too quiet. 

But the bustle of New York could easily be heard. I guess the constant background noise would be irritating but my bros and I were used to it. Though, usually there was someone else making a racket at night. Lately, it was like none of us could get a wink of sleep. You'd think that constantly fighting the Kraang and fightin' the Foot would tire a turtle out. But I guess me and my bros aren’t like other dudes. 

Leo has been up watching “Space Heroes” every night since we got the DVR fixed. I’m pretty jealous that he gets to do that. But we're betting how long he'll be able to do it before Master Splinter finds out. So far I've bet eight bucks, a copper coin, two silver, and half a hotdog that he finds out by the end of the week. Really hoping that Dee loses so I can get his lab for a day. Oh man! The things Kitty and I could make! A Mountain Dew powered car! And a slice of pizza that never gets moldy! Or popcorn that pops in your mouth! So many possibilities!

Wait, I was talking about my bros, right? Hehe, oops! Back to the story… 

Raph keeps sneaking out to do hero stuff but I promised him that I wouldn’t tell anyone about it. Pinky promised too! Only the most cold-hearted people would break the sacred trust of a pinky promise. I bet the Shredder broke a pinky promise and that’s why he’s a terrible person!

Splinter is always asleep unless we're causin' problems. But I think saving the city should make up for staying up past curfew. Sensei doesn’t agree, though. 

But Donnie’s been getting even less sleep lately. There’s always another project for him to complete, or machine to fix, or code to hack. I wish that he would give himself a break sometime but he just won’t quit. He says that all his science stuff is how he deals with stress, but there’s no way that he’s THAT stressed!

Oh, and me? I’m awake because there’s a new comic out tomorrow and I’m so excited I can’t sleep! Sure I dunno if I’ll even get to read it, but if I avoid spoilers I’ll be fine! 

I turned over to check my clock before remembering Ice Cream Kitty accidentally broke it. She’s going through that phase when she swats everything to the floor, but she’s still a little baby!

I was gonna try and get some more shut-eye, but then I heard an explosion from the lab. Which could mean two things…

THE MUTANT SQUIRRELS WERE BACK AND WANTED TO EAT MY GUTS!!

Or, Donnie was still working.

After grabbing my chucks and a flashlight and some peanuts, just in case it was the squirrels, I left my room. With my super stealthy ninja skills, I crept out of my room and went over to the lab. I slowly opened the door and peeked through the crack. 

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered before bursting through the door.

“BOOYAKASHA!!”

“EEP!!”

Donnie jumped in surprise when I barreled in, the contents of his glass going everywhere. I was so relieved that it wasn’t squirrels, but Dee didn’t look nearly as happy. 

He sighed, and even from the entrance I could see the dark circles under his eyes. He was slumped over and his mask hung loosely around his neck like a scarf. He blinked at me before asking, “what's up, Mikey?”

“Well, we both are, bro. But I’m guessing you know we should be asleep, right?”

“Yes,” he huffed, “I know we’re supposed to be in bed. So what are you doing up?”

I bounced over to Donnie and threw an arm around his shoulder, not noticing his concern over the vials in front of us. “That new comic is out soon, dude! I think it was called ‘Jupiter Jim,’ or somethin’. I’m way too excited to sleep! But I heard an explosion and wanted to come see what you were up to.”

Dee rubbed his mahogany eyes before pointing to some liquids and a couple egg bombs. “I’ve been working on a new process for creating the smoke bombs. The problem is paper mache doesn’t break as easily and liquid mixtures make the shells too soggy. We can’t get fresh eggs to use every week so I’m considering using a biodegradable mixture but-”

“Don, stop talking. Look, dude, it’s awesome, okay? Everything you make is so epic! And I love getting to try your new inventions! But, isn’t it time for a break? Just last month you flooded the lair and Splinter told you to take a week off, remember?”

My tallest brother sighed and plopped down in his chair. “Yes, Mikey, I remember. But, if I don’t do it, who will? It’s up to me to fix everything!”

I frowned at my brother, who’s eyes were too bloodshot and too tired for, well, anyone. He looked up at me when I put a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey, don’t say that. It’s not ALL up to you, bro. You have us! There’s Leo and Raph and Sensei and Casey and April! And me too! I know you don’t want me around your lab much, but I’m worried about you! If you keep staying up late you’re gonna hurt yourself! But if you had me in here, I can help clean up or carry stuff or build things, or just help keep you awake! Please dude, I promise I’ll be careful!”

Donnie looked back and forth from his chemicals to me. I was making the biggest, saddest, most pleading-est puppy dog eyes possible. There’s no way he can say no to that!

Eventually Dee sighed and gave me a faint smile. “Alright. You can help me out a bit. But we’ll have to lay down some ground rules first. Rule number one, al-”

“AWESOME! Thanks, big bro! But we’ll hafta wait on that thingy you’re working on right now.”

“Huh? What? Wait? Why?” Don blinked. I could tell he was confusion but I grabbed his hand and led him to the rooms. “Before you do anything else, you’re sleeping. Got it, Don?”

“Mikey, no! I gotta finish this before the next mission or-”

“PU-LEASE! Bro, we go on patrol and missions every night! A little extra sleep will make you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, so next time you work it’ll be awesome! Now, c’mon!”

We tiptoed past the rest of our bros and snuck into Don’s room. I tugged him towards the bed and he flopped down, armor on and everything. 

“Give me a break, Dee!” I flicked his forehead and pointed to his gear. “If you wanna get any real sleep then take off your weapons and stuff! Here, I’ll go get some warm milk while you do that. Be right back! And, dude, don’t even think about leaving or I’ll have Ice Cream Kitty sleep on you!”

I could hear my bro ask, “wouldn’t she melt?” as I went into the kitchen. “Psh, my little Ice Cream Kitty is tough! It takes more than a hug to melt you!”

She purred when I opened the door and gave her nose a tiny boop. Getting the milk was the easy part, but we don’t have very good heating so I put it in the microwave for a quick minute. I was about to head back when I heard the lab doors creak behind me. 

To no one’s surprise, Donnie was up and trying to sneak back into his lab. When he saw me the dude looked like a turtle in streetlights. 

“Look, Mikey, I can explain. This project is important to Leo and I’d love to get it done and AHCK!”

Dude was cut short when I grabbed his hand and tugged him away from the lab. I really, really wanted to be mad at my bro, but I kinda knew this would’ve happened. Still, he’d totally regret it if he didn’t get some z’s soon. 

“If it’s really that important to Leo, then he would WANT you to get some sleep so you can do this project right! You know, Dee, you can be as stubborn as Raph sometimes.”

My older bro scoffed at the idea as we sat down on his bed. “Please, his impulsive instincts are no match for my intellect!”

“Sure, keep saying that, dude,” I giggled. I set the milk next to his overly complicated alarm clock. Donnie climbed into bed after removing his gear and closed his eyes. 

But I’m not an idiot. Sure, sometimes things didn’t make sense but that’s because my mind is like a blender, always mixing all my thoughts and ideas like a tornado and I can’t focus on anything! The dude’s don’t get it but Don said he could run some tests and see if there’s a diagnosis for why I’m so distracted and energetic all the time. Of course, he’s always working on machines and when he’s not we have to do ninja stuff so we haven’t done any tests yet, but I don’t wanna bug him. Much. Though I’m probably bugging him since I’m trying to get him to sleep right now and-

Whoops! Guess I got off topic again!

But I’m not an idiot. I knew Donnie would try to get back into his lab again. So this called for what I dub: The Cat Tactic.

I sat down at the end of Don’s bed so he wouldn’t be able to leave. He gave me a confused look but I just sent him a smile. “You ain’t going anywhere, bro. Not until you get some shut-eye. I’ll sit here all night if I have to!” No sane person moves a sleeping cat, or determined turtle!

“Mikey, you know this really isn’t necessary, right?” I frowned at my brother. It was so hard for my bros to understand that it was okay to take a break. We’re still teenagers, after all.

“No, Donnie. It IS necessary. Ya know why? Because self-care is important and I’m not gonna let you push yourself anymore! Now, go to bed already!”

Dee blinked at me before an embarrassed look crossed his face. “One little problem, Mike, uh, I haven’t slept at this time in years.”

I looked at his clock which read 3:31 am. “C’mon, man! You’re gonna give my shell wrinkles at this rate!”

“Actually, shells gain new rings called ‘scutes’ that indicate growth spurts rather than age in years. So getting new scutes from stress would likely be impossible.”

Donnie looked very proud of his little factoid with a gapped grin on his beak. While Dee’s facts were cool when I actually could pay attention to them, I was too tired to listen.

“That’s cool, Don. But can we please go to bed now?”

My nerdy bro stuck his tongue out, thinking, before he nodded. “Okay. You’ve been trying really hard to get me to sleep. Which is scientifically proven to be better on organic systems if an optimal amount of rest is gained. But,” he looked at me, “even though I know that I’ve been pushing myself.”

I jumped on his bed because YES! Dude was finally getting it! “Finally! I knew you had some common sense under all that science!”

“Hey, what do you mean tha-”

“Now shush! I’m too tired to go back to my room. So, I’m gonna sleep in here! Plus that way you’ll HAVE to stay in bed!”

“Wait whaaa-” Donnie got cut off again as I crawled under his blanket. I never slept with my gear on, and my mask sat on my forehead. 

Dee tried to scoot away but there wasn’t any more room on the mattress. I frowned when I noticed how uncomfortable he looked. Back when we were little, me and my bros would nap in the same bed until Sensei got us separate rooms. Even after that, we would still sleep in the same room if we were lonely or had nightmares.

I hated how my brothers just didn’t do those things anymore. 

But this was a great opportunity for some bonding with my bro! So I scooted closer until my head was under his chin. Even when we were babies, Donnie had been the tallest and I was the smallest. It’s like we were made for hugs and cuddles! 

“Hey, Donnie?”

“Yeah, Mikey?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a sleepover…”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s been about four years, two months, and five days.”

I blinked up at my brother. “Wait, how do you remember what day it was?”

Dee smiled at me and rubbed my head. “That was the night Raph convinced us to watch ‘Jaws’ and you had a nightmare. You came to me and we talked about anything you thought of until we both fell asleep. And then…”

“OH! Then Sensei grounded us for the weekend because we stayed up too late! Now I remember! Mm, you always knew how to calm me down.”

I nuzzled Donnie’s chin before getting settled on the pillow. He put his arm around my shoulder to make sure I didn’t fall off the bed. I felt his jaw move on top of my head as he said, “well, you know how to cheer us up and remind us to look after ourselves. We’d be a mess without ya, Mikey.”

I smiled and whispered thanks to my brother. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but we loved each other. And that was enough for me.

“Good night, Donnie.”

“Sweet dreams, Mikey. And thanks.”

“For what?”

“Being an awesome little brother.”

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone who noticed the Rise references gets a (spiritual) cookie! Thank you for reading, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!! Have a great day dear readers!
> 
> Btw, for my friends and usual readers I have many Linked Universe and tmnt works in the process! I’ll work hard on them more because I love you guys!!


End file.
